Jaguar Design & Print goes wider with Fujifilm investment

Jaguar Design & Print will extend its capabilities early next month when it takes delivery of a Fujifilm Acuity LED 3200R UV roll-to-roll printer.

The new 3.2m-wide machine, which will be supplied by Bury St Edmunds-based Mayday Graphic Products, will be installed at the firm’s 465sqm site in Basildon, Essex.

Costing £55,000, the kit is additional to the company’s existing portfolio, which also includes roll-to-roll printers from Epson and Mutoh, a Canon Océ Arizona 1260 flatbed, and a Summa cutter.

Director Ray Taylor, who established the company in 2004 with fellow director Michael Kenny, said the business has been getting increasing calls for printing wider.

“A lot of companies around our area have only got maximum 2.5 metres and we can do up to 2.2 metres at the moment so we feel that this will allow us to go into different markets.

“We will also be able to do roller banners on their side, or even do three in a row, so our productivity will be a lot faster and we’ll be able to get more work out.”

Taylor added the six-staff business, which turns over £500,000 and serves trade clients, print management companies and end users, will also now be able to print on a wider range of materials and take on bigger jobs that require fast turnarounds.

“We’re hoping for a bit more growth. We’re also starting to interview for an apprentice because we are getting busier and busier,” he said.

“We lose out on quite a few of the big jobs that are wanted urgently, and we do get some nice enquiries sometimes. It would be nice to build up slowly and build the staff up a bit.”

Launched in 2016, the Acuity LED 3200R UV can output at a maximum speed of 110sqm/hr. It has eight ink channels as standard: cyan, magenta, yellow, black, light cyan, light magenta, white and clear, which utilise Fujifilm's Uvijet ink range to reproduce colours and gradations.

The instant-curing UV inks allow for multi-layer printing and the clear ink means high-gloss spot varnish effects can be created.